Verizon

Dan Rodricks ' Verizon experience sounds very familiar to me ("Last call for Verizon service," Feb. 22). My experience with Verizon has been worse than terrible. "No telephone or Internet service? We'll schedule a technician to look into the problem in the next 10 to 14 days. Thanks for calling Verizon and have a wonderful day. " The problem was Verizon's, not in my house. Isn't Verizon a public utility? Isn't there some Public Service Commission oversight here? Maybe Dan could look into why the PSC allows this to happen.

Dan Rodricks is indeed a lucky man. He received an apology from Verizon, and they are "reviewing his experience in order to learn from it and prevent similar situations … in the future" ( "Verizon to Rodricks: We're sorry," Feb. 28). Wow! Perhaps Mr. Rodricks should ask others to share their Verizon stories, which could be printed as a special edition to The Sun. These would be reviewed as a learning experience for Verizon. And maybe we could all get an apology. Peg McAllen, Towson

With regret, I read Dan Rodricks' column about his recent experience with Verizon ("Verizon service: Goodbye to all that," Feb. 21). I want to apologize to Mr. Rodricks for this experience. It's not one we're proud of, and it's not indicative of the experience of millions of Verizon customers in the mid-Atlantic region. Our goal at Verizon is to provide the very best service possible to all of our customers. Unfortunately, we failed to do so in Mr. Rodricks' case. We are reviewing Mr. Rodricks' experience in order to learn from it and prevent similar situations with other customers in the future.

Readers will recall how it took an hour for me to get a representative of Verizon, the communications superpower, to do as I asked and simply disconnect my home telephone and leave me with Internet service only. Of course, Verizon Internet service turned out to be more costly by itself than in combination with a land line, but that's the Egg Roll Principle of Commerce at play: An egg roll at Happy Wok costs more by itself than it does when ordered with the lunch combo. So, after grumbling about that, I just accepted the Verizon deal — about $40 a month for Internet service, and no more home phone.

FedEx is a shipping company — except on football Sundays in Washington. Verizon is a communications company, unless professional hockey is being played at the home of the Capitals. Verizon competes with Comcast, unless you're talking about the home court of the University of Maryland Terrapins. Now, State Farm Insurance wants to be identified as a good Samaritan by drivers whose cars go kaput on Maryland highways. Just like FedEx, Verizon and Comcast, the insurance company has entered into a partnership — albeit somewhat less glamorous than the others — with the state of Maryland.

Linkin Park has been around for 12 years now, but it was only last year that it made what has been hailed as its best album. On Thursday, the veteran band will perform at Verizon Center as part of its "A Thousand Suns" tour, which recently completed sold-out runs in Europe and Australia. When Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson and guitarist and rapper Mike Shinoda started the band in California in 1996, it was just another one of the rising rap-rock groups that formed at the time.

Like President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao of China, Verizon and I recently engaged in a summit. I called The Big V — truly, a communications superpower — to cancel my home phone. Rachel took the call for the company and put up pleasant resistance for nearly an hour. It became a test of wills and power. I want to drop my home phone, I told Rachel, but keep my Verizon Internet service. "May I ask why?" said she. Because I'm not using the land line.

From the BaltTech blog: Big news today: Verizon Wireless will soon start selling the iPhone 4. The Verizon homepage has been updated to include the iPhone 4. Apple's homepage has it, too. Verizon will be selling the 16 GB version for $199 with a two-year plan, starting Feb. 10. I'm checking to see the details on the monthly plans that are offered... the rumor was that Verizon would offer an unlimited data package to differentiate itself from AT&T, which offers tiered/capped plans.

The problem: A tree fell on utility lines in Reisterstown and remained there despite numerous calls to report the problem. The backstory: This is for certain: Gravity definitely works on Berrymans Lane in Baltimore County. Other things — such as how to alert a utility that a tree has fallen on its lines — remain contentious. While driving, Lloyd Lachow noticed that a tree was leaning on utility wires in the 1100 block of Berrymans Lane. He thought the tree would fall on the road, should the wires give way, so he pulled over and called 911 twice to give officials the info.

From the BalthTech blog: Big news for fans of Verizon's wireless network: It'll be getting the Apple iPad starting Oct. 28. You'll be able to buy the iPad at 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores nationwide. (Is this the precursor to Verizon getting the iPhone next year, as recent reports suggest?) Interestingly, consumers won't have access to the iPad 3G. Instead, if you want one from Verizon, you could buy an iPad Wi-Fi version plus a Verizon MiFi mobile hotspot. The hotspot uses Verizon's 3G network and generates a Wi-Fi hotspot that you can then use the iPad with.